Spread the love

Post Views: 91

A group of Australian tourists have been hijacked by transport authority thugs in Livorno, Italy and ripped off for 40 euros each.

They were on a day trip from a cruise ship to the Livorno railway station, which cost one euro fifty. All purchased tickets, but when they tried to validate them, the machine did not work. Even a local, who spoke good English, agreed you had to know precisely how to manipulate the machine to get validation.

When they stepped onto the bus, the driver waved them through with other groups from the ship who found validating their tickets impossible.

Shortly after commencing the journey, the driver pointed out the Australian group of five uniformed thugs who got on the bus and demanded to see passports and then imposed a fine of 17 euros for each person for non-validation. As the group was hurrying to the railway station and visiting Florence, they agreed to pay the curious fine by credit card. However, a close examination of the credit card slip showed that each person had been charged 40 euros. According to one of the Australians, the so-called officials were intimidating, demanding to see passports, which were photographed. “We were treated like criminals,” she said. “Anywhere else in the world visitors would be treated with understanding and guided in local rules – but not in Livorno.”

Looking at similar incidents on Facebook, this racket seems to have been going on for some time. Why did the bus driver select the Australian group? Was he part of the scam? It is easy to believe the answer is yes. According to the group leader: “We have contacted our credit card company and had the charge challenged – and look forward to the authorities in Livorno taking the right attitude and protecting visitors from this sort of humiliation and theft. “We are, by the way, assuming they were officials she added and complied with their requests – “this could also be a tourist season scam on a grand scale.”